Village Design Statements

An introduction to village design statements(VDS) giving their definition, what they are used for, how you would go about doing one and how they fit in with current UK planning legislation. This paper was published in 2001 as the Planning Green paper was being discussed. Local Development Frameworks are now part of Planning Policy Statement 12.

Good practice guides, handbooks and Manuals

Overseas guidance

January 26, 2011 - Culture minister Ed Vaizey has dropped a huge hint that the proposed merger between CABE and the Design Council has been finalised, reports the Architects' Journal.
Delivering a keynote speech at the first London Design Review last week, Vaizey said he was delighted that the Government had effected ‘a secure future for the Design Council and CABE’. more >

Over the past 10 years, an increased focus on placemaking and regeneration across the UK led many public bodies and campaigning groups to engage in placemaking initiatives: the Urban Design Compendium, Manual for Streets, Link and Place, etc. Information on these initiatives is available via RUDI, along with strategy and guidance on most elements of the placemaking mix.

Urban design is a process that involves a wide range of people with a stake in an area and many different kinds of professionals and communities of interest. A successful outcome depends on these people working effectively together.

Good urban design is not an abstract ideal. It is a matter of creating the right conditions to make places work. Urban design is relevant from the largest to the smallest scale, and from the most historic town centre to the newest suburban development.

Although it does not set out new policy or legislation, it shows how the design of residential streets can be enhanced. It also advises on how street design can help create better places – places with local distinctiveness and identity. In addition, it establishes a common reference point for all those involved in the design of residential neighbourhoods.

Urban Design Guidance by Rob Cowan. Amid a a great deal of confusion about what design guidance is, how it should be prepared, what clients expect, what services consultants offer, and what resources are required, this guide focuses on the detail, spelling out exactly what local authorities might include in urban design guidance and what developers and designers should expect to find in it. It provides a framework for all those involved in the development process. Its aim is to help people use the right tools for the job, and to use them effectively. It is addressed to everyone who plays a part in commissioning, preparing or using guidance, whether as developers, council officers, consultants, politicians or members of partnerships.

New national planning policy published this week, puts good design at the heart of the system, was welcomed by CABE. The new Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) will ensure that good planning and good design are indivisible. The guidance makes it clear that design is about how places work, not just how they look, a message CABE has consistently championed.